A/N: Well, halfway through the story! I wasn't even sure I'd make it this far. I hope you like reading this chapter, since I sure liked writing it. Please Review!

Chapter 10: Trouble with Sokka

"Tell me, Kai," Azula's voice emanated from a two-way radio, which was held in the palm of Kai's hand. "How did your mission go? Respectably, I hope?" It was the dead of night, and no one from the nearby village would be able to see them. In a clearing of the forest stood Kai and Rong.

"Very respectable, your majesty," Kai responded. "Though my brother couldn't succeed in capturing the Avatar, Sokka has been successfully infected."

"But that's not all," interjected Rong. "I also learned that the Avatar and his friends are headed for The Order of the White Lotus Headquarters."

"I see," Azula said with interest. "Why would they do that?"

"I found a letter explaining everything." Rong stated. He then recited the letter that he held word-for-word.

"This is great news," Azula said happily. Though she sounded cheerful, she still possessed the same icy tone that struck fear down even the bravest man's spine. "Now I know the location of two fugitives. You have done well, Rong. And you too, Kai." Both expressed gratitude at the princess's unusually kind words. "Your plan was brilliant, Kai. Bending smoke from fire and passing it off as airbending is brilliant.

"Now listen carefully." Azula continued. "I want you to leave immediately for the Order of the White Lotus. They must be captured before they make contact with my mother."

"Will you be joining us, your highness?" Kai asked.

"Not right away. There is a certain fugitive that I must capture, now that I know his location. I will join you at the Order. Remember, I must meet the Grand Master before my brother does."

"Don't worry, your majesty," said Rong. "We won't let you down,"

"I had a great time," Ty Lee said to Sokka. They were both walking hand in hand along the rocky shores of the lake pm on their bare feet. It was almost sunset, and it was becoming harder for either of them to see each other's faces.

"Well it's not over yet," Sokka responded. "We still have the sunset to see." Both of them walked over to the lake and sat on the sandy shore, their feet in the cold water. Ty Lee rested her head on his shoulder and waited for the sun to set. As the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, Sokka and Ty Lee moved closer together. Sokka looked into her beautiful dark eyes and went in for a kiss. Before his lips could reach hers though, something happened to Sokka.

It's her fault. It's because of her that she's dead. She killed her. She must be stopped.

Instantly, Sokka's eyes became darker, until they were as black as the midnight sky. The soft expression of his face turned fierce, and his skin turned ghostly white.

"Sokka, are you okay?" Ty Lee asked concernedly. Suddenly, Sokka took her by the shirt and threw her to the ground. He grabbed her by her hair and was about to throw her into the lake when a gust of air knocked them apart.

"Sokka, What are you doing?" Aang shouted as he rushed over to hold him back from Ty Lee. After this point, Sokka had no clue what he was doing. His vision went black, and he felt powerless. Then suddenly, Sokka changed back. His eyes turned their usual blue, his skin darkened, and he regained control of his actions.

However, the damage was already done. Mai was consoling Ty Lee multiple yards away. Aang, Zuko, and Longshot were still holding Sokka. However, Toph was strangely missing. Everyone there had a grave look on their face.

"What have I done?" Sokka asked in disbelief.

"Well, you nearly killed Ty Lee!" Zuko shouted. "And then Aang and Longshot had to stop you from killing Mai and me." Sokka was in a state of shock. How could he do these things to anyone? And how could he do it without even knowing it?"

"I don't know how this could happen," Sokka explained. "One minute, I was completely normal, and the next..." He turned to speak to Ty Lee. "I'm so sorry, Ty Lee. You know I never meant to hurt you." Ty Lee didn't respond. She merely turned her tear-stained face away from Sokka and buried her face in her legs. She was unable to look at him.

"I think we should all get to sleep," Katara interjected. "We're all just tired, and that could be why we're doing strange things." One by one, everyone began walking back to camp.

"You don't actually believe that, do you?" Smellerbee asked Katara, while walking beside her.

"No, I don't," Katara answered. "But it's all we have. Let's just hope that this will never happen again." At last they were out of view from Sokka and Ty Lee, who had not yet left. The two of them did not exchange a word on their walk to camp.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"So many questions. You make it seem as if I'm at your will. But no matter. I'm looking for a man, a man whom I hear has just taken residence here."

"You're not looking for my husband-"

"Please, I have no need for your filthy little mate."

"Then, who is it you want?"

"He is a man that you and have been caring for. You and your little clan."

"I have been given orders not to turn him over to anyone, especially people like you."

"You discourteous hen! How dare you speak to me like that! If you do not hand him over, I will have to take him by force."

"Don't you take one more step!"

"Step out of the way, woman. I don't want to hurt you too."

"Don't you dare!"

"Out of the way!"

"No, Azula!"

Sokka had very little sleep the night before. All he could think about was Ty Lee. Even when he did get sleep, he was having strange dreams. In these dreams he could recognize the voices of Ty Lee and Suki. However, there was one voice that, though it was very familiar, Sokka could not identify it.

"Sokka, you all right?" Aang asked. Sokka opened his eyes to see the bald monk standing over him, along with Katara and Toph. "Your face was ghostly white, and you were screaming."

"Must have been a bad dream," Sokka replied, though he knew full well there was more to it. He knew that these dreams were somehow related to what happened with him and Ty Lee.

"Well, we're leaving on Appa in five minutes, so pack your things," Katara said. Sokka did as he was told, and proceeded with packing his bags. He took his boomerang and his machete and stuck them into the pockets of his belt. He took his enormous sack of food and hung it over his shoulder, causing him to fall on his face.

Within minutes, Appa was up in the sky, with nine teenagers riding on his back. Though Aang and Katara were no longer avoiding each other, Sokka and Ty Lee were. Ty Lee was sitting at the back of the bison, her teary face buried in her lap. Toph, who was trying to rest, was becoming increasingly bothered by Ty Lee's constant wailing.

"Oh, suck it up!" Toph shouted at Ty Lee. Mai instantly bolted up from her seat to defend Ty Lee. "Your boyfriend hits you once, and you're acting like someone's dead."

"Don't talk to her like that!" shouted Mai. "You have no clue what she's going through. Then again, how could you?"

"That's me, innocent, blind, little Toph," Toph stated sarcastically. "Nothing bad ever happens to me, because I live in my own protective little bubble. I've never lost someone I love or anything,"

"Everyone be quiet!" Aang shouted over the arguing girls. "I know everyone's tense right now, but if you can just keep your fricken mouths shut for more than 10 minutes, we'll all get along just fine. Got it?" No one spoke after this, clearly for fear of another outburst by Aang.

After an hour of awkward silence, the bison reached its landing spot. One by one, the teenagers dismounted the massive bison. It was about two hours from sunset, and the group was rushing to finish setting up camp by nightfall.

"Alright, what happened?" Katara asked Toph. She had noticed Toph's strange behavior while riding Appa.

"What if I don't want to talk about it?" Toph snapped angrily, though this was what Katara was expecting. Toph always used anger to cover up her sadness.

"Toph, I can tell something's wrong. Did something happen to someone in your family?"

"I'm fine, now can you get off my back?"

"Toph," Katara said sternly.

"Fine, I'll tell you," said Toph, "Yesterday, when you were all with Sokka and Ty Lee, I got a message from Gaoling,"

"Your hometown? What was it about?"

"The messenger told me that my mom was really sick. He said she might… he said she might die."

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry, Toph."

"Save it. I don't need the sympathy."

"Toph, you really should-" Katara began, before she was interrupted by Toph.

"I know what you're going say," Stated Toph. "You're going to tell me how it's 'okay to feel sad' or something,"

"I wasn't going to say that," Katara responded. "What I think is that you should be with her,"

"But Katara, I-"

"I know exactly where you're coming from, Toph, but not seeing your mom sick won't make her illness go away," Katara's tone became significantly softer at this point. "I never got to say goodbye to my mother before she died. The day of the fire nation raid, the warriors were outside fighting while Mom, Gran Gran, Sokka, and I had to stay in the tent. We were okay until a soldier made his way into the tent.

"The soldier grabbed my mother and pulled her out of the tent. That was the last time I ever saw her. After the battle, my dad came in and told us that mom was dead. It was the worst moment of my life.

"Your situation's different though. I wasn't able to say goodbye to my mom. But you have the opportunity to say goodbye to your mother. Toph, if you don't go, it may be the worst mistake of your life."

"Thank you Katara," was all Toph was able to say. "Master Yu is coming to pick me up tomorrow morning. I wasn't sure if I would go, but now I'm sure. Now let's just hope I can get back." Both girls laughed at the small joke, though Toph new in her heart there was some truth to it. Mr. And Mrs. Bei Fong were always extremely protective of her. The first time she left, her father sent a pair of thugs to come and retrieve her. If her mother died, it would be nearly impossible to escape.

Katara gave Toph a friendly hug, which was cut short by a high-pitched scream coming from camp. Both Toph and Katara ran back to camp. When they reached camp, they saw Longshot and Zuko holding back Sokka, who was baring his teeth and struggling to get out of their grip.

"Oh no, not again," said Katara.

"We can't hold him much longer," said Longshot. "He seems even more powerful than yesterday."

"Ty Lee, paralyze him!" Zuko shouted to Ty Lee. Ty Lee shook her red face vigorously, to scared to do anything,"

"Now Ty Lee!" Zuko repeated. "Your life's on the line!" Hesitantly, Ty Lee rose from the ground and hit Sokka with a few jabs. Instantly his arms and legs went limp, and he stopped moving.

"What can we do?" Aang asked. "I don't think this is going away on its own."

"I say we wait until we meet the Grand Master," stated Zuko. "I've heard from Uncle that the grand master is the only human being allowed in the Spirit Library of Wan Shi Tong, and that he has studied every tome in the building."

"But what do we do until then," asked Smellerbee.

"There's only one thing we can do for Ty Lee's safety," said Toph. "We freeze him. You up to it Katara, Aang?"

"If it's for Ty Lee's safety, then yes," Katara replied. Reluctantly, she took position, along with the Avatar. "I'm sorry, Sokka," she said, before encasing her brother in ice from the neck down.

At last, Sokka returned to normal. When he became his regular self, he felt a sudden cold sensation down his back. He then realized he was in a block of ice.

"What's going on?" He asked. Katara explained the entire situation rather gloomily, to which Sokka seemed surprisingly understanding.

"You had the right idea," Sokka said. "I shouldn't be trusted. I could hurt someone I really care about."

It was very late at night, and everyone in camp had fallen asleep except for Sokka. He was still encased in ice, and though he was very, tired, he could not sleep. Not only was the ice extremely uncomfortable, but he was also busy thinking about the pain he had caused.

Eventually, fatigue overpowered him, which he gave in to. He gave one last, sorrowful glance at Ty Lee before drifting into a cold, dreamless, sleep.

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Pleeeeeeze Review! I'm hoping to reach 30 reviews. (If I don't get them, I still continue writing, for those who read this story in March)

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